Power Analytics to monitor energy use at Navy facilities

Firm's software targets micro-grids at San Diego military locations

Power Analytics, a San Diego software firm, said Monday it received a research contract to install micro-grid management solutions at naval facilities in San Diego County.

The software allows centralized management of power generation and energy use at three facilities – the hospital at Naval Base San Diego, a data center at Naval Base Coronado and renewable energy sources at Naval Base Point Loma.

The energy monitoring and control of each of these facilities will occur at the Naval Base San Diego Utility and Energy Operations Center.

Micro-grids include power producing systems, such as solar panels or diesel backup generators, coupled with power consuming things, such as buildings.

Power Analytics software manages micro-grids so when a storm is approaching or a regional utility is under stress, micro-grid managers can precisely target how best to use back-up power.

Power Analytics did not reveal the exact size of the three-year contract. But Karen Cronin, a company vice president, said it’s more than $2 million. The Department of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program is funding the work.

This is the first centrally managed cluster of micro-grids in a cyber-secure military environment, Cronin said. The Pentagon has been working to reduce the energy costs and environmental impact of military facilities, she said.

“If the local utility is having some kind of issue and needs to reduce demand, if you can look at all your bases, you can see where the best place is to reduce demand,” she said.

Power Analytics technology has been used at the University of California San Diego, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, and for several commercial micro-grid customers' on-site power sources.

Power Analytics employs about 30 people at its Rancho Bernardo headquarters and at a research center in Raleigh, N.C.